Her Story
About Norena
Norena Garcia serves as an RBT in the behavioral health field in San Antonio, Texas, where she supports children with special needs through in-home and clinic-based services. With a little over a year of experience, she entered the field after a high school internship in a preschool special education department and continued her work while pursuing a social work major in college. Garcia values stability and organization when approaching challenges, along with self-reliance and community engagement to build strong relationships and better support those around her. She has found that working with children who have high-risk needs can be intimidating, requiring her to respond thoughtfully rather than emotionally, yet this has helped her develop greater resilience. Looking ahead, she intends to earn a master's degree in social work and accumulate licensed clinical hours to practice therapy, with a focus on play therapy. Garcia advises young women entering the field to view colleagues as peers and recognize that mutual support benefits everyone.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Norena
01What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
My therapist always says that you have to support yourself before you support others. You're the only person that can support you.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
See others as your peers, know that the people who are above you also need your help too. We all need to help each other in some way.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Challenges: working with children with high-risk needs can be intimidating, hard to respond outside of emotions and not get into shock mode. Opportunities: feel more resilient and can handle a lot more than thought possible.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I value stability a lot, always try to be organized before approaching something difficult. I value self-reliance and community so that I'm able to support my community more and build strong relationships.
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